Issue 2 supporters now targeting President Obama

Toledo BladeGov. John Kasich greets supporters during a rally in support of Issue 2 on Sept. 29 in Toledo.

COLUMBUS, Ohio - About the only politician polling as poorly as Gov. John Kasich in Ohio right now is President Barack Obama.

So, maybe that is why supporters of Issue 2, the referendum on the state's new collective bargaining law, have sent out mailers bashing the Democratic president in an effort to dial up support for the law that is unmistakeably connected to the Republican governor.

The color mailer contains a photo of a troubled looking Obama with his right index finger holding his head and the words: "Obama's policies are failing our country."

Beneath Obama's photo is a picture of four people looking skyward with slight grins across their faces and around them the words: "Obama wants us to do things his way? Yes on Issue 2 is our chance to do things our way!"

The new collective bargaining law, still known to many as Senate Bill 5, was championed by Kasich. It sharply restricts collective bargaining and ends binding arbitration, among a myriad of other rules, for the state's more than 300,000 public employees who belong to unions -- including firefighters, police officers, teachers and municipal workers.

The unions responded aggressively by launching a referendum, known as Issue 2, to repeal the law even before it has become effective. Issue 2 will be on the ballot on Nov. 8.

Earlier this week another war of ads between the two sides erupted. Issue 2 supporters, Building a Better Ohio, backed by Kasich, admitted taking footage from an anti-Issue 2 television commercial produced by We Are Ohio, the union-backed group, and twisted it to make it appear the Cincinnati great-grandmorther featured in the ad was for the new collective bargaining law. She is not.

We Are Ohio says about 30 Ohio and West Virginia television stations have pulled the ad over concerns it is deceptive or misleading. Building a Better Ohio, meanwhile, has said it is standing by the ad.

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